Realignment is no safer than before

The recently realigned intersection at Cedar Street and Seventh Avenue is not any safer than the original design and is causing frustrations among drivers, said Mayor James Atebe.

Atebe presented the issue in a verbal report at a council meeting last week.

There are too many choices for motorists travelling northbound, and it’s creating all kinds of road rage, the mayor noted. “It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Atebe has been receiving numerous phone calls and e-mails from drivers who would like to see the intersection changed. Most councillors agreed with the complaint and said they have been hearing similar talk among residents as well.

Councillor Paul Horn offered his apologies to the public because he didn’t feel council did their “homework on this.”

“I believed we were doing the right thing,” said Horn about the intersection change, which took place a few months ago. “We partnered with ICBC [to improve the configuration] ... but it’s not as safe as it should be.”

Council didn’t ask what the change would look like, and is frustrated too, said Horn, who drives through the intersection regularly.

“What surprised me was we ended up with a merge lane south of Seventh Avenue,” said Horn.

Atebe suggested limiting northbound motorists to one option when they reach the intersection, similar to what currently exists for southbound traffic.

The intersection has been a safety concern since the Cedar Valley Connector was completed in 2006. In 2007, the district secured some funding from ICBC for improvements, which was carried out this year.

ICBC provided $86,000, mostly to install the raised medians. The total cost of the project was about $130,000.

“It’s very unlikely it will go back to the old form because it had problems,” said Horn, who also noted he’s not an engineer, but at the end of the day, if engineers didn’t feel it was safer, they wouldn’t do it.

The problem, Horn continued, is the roads are not perfectly aligned, and the solution is not to simply put in a left turn signal.

Coun. Jenny Stevens suggested installing a roundabout.

Horn encouraged the district’s Traffic Safety Committee convene sooner, rather than later, to discuss the issue. Atebe asked for the entire intersection to be examined.